Process of drying fresh gluten.



No. 688,7". Patented Dec. I0, 190i. G. AMTHUR. PROCESS OF DRYING FRESHGLUTEN.

(Application filed Feb. 12, 1901.

' (No Model.)

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UNITED STATES ATENT @FFTCE.

GUSTAV AMTHOR, OF I-IALLE-ON-THE-SAALE, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF DRYING FRESH GLUTEN.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 688,711, d ted D b 10,1901.

Application filed February 12, 1901.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, GUSTAV AMTHOR, a subject of the Emperor of Germany,residing at I-Ialle-on-the-Saale, in the Kingdom of Prussia and Empireof Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inProcesses of Drying Gluten, of which the following is a specification.

A simple and unobjectionable process for converting fresh gluten into astable and portable form without injury to its valuable properties orits chemical constitution, such as would be caused, for instance, by theinfluence of heat, is not known at the present time, although thesolution of this problem would greatly extend the industrial use ofgluten,which,as is well known, has a very high nutritive value. Aprocess recently proposed involves freezing the gluten; but this wouldbe very troublesome and in the summer it could not be carried on withlarge quantities without an expensive plant.

The present invention relates to a simple process for increasing thechemical stability of fresh gluten which has been relieved of starch bywashing, so that the gluten will not lose its valuable properties andwill not suffer from long transportation.

Attempts to extract the water from the tough and moist gluten which hasbeen relieved of starch by treating the gluten in a vacuum attemperatures which are not high enough for causing the gluten to bakehave always failed owing to the enormous increase of volume of the masswhich is produced by a reduction of atmospheric pressure, the massexpanding to such an extent that comparatively small quantities ofgluten would require very large apparatus for their treatment. Thisdefect, which renders the desiccation or the tough gluten in a vacuumcommercially impracticable, may, however, be avoided by modifying thetreatment at the beginning-that is to say, by drawing airout of theapparatus, allowing it to reenter, and repeatingthis treatment in rapidsuccession, so as to cause the quantityof air in the vacuurn apparatusor the degree of vacuum to fluctuate. The result is a correspondinglyrapid alternate increase and reduction of the volume of the gluten,after which it will graduallyt'. e. within a qu arterof an hou r- SerialNo. 47,000. (No specimens.)

assume a state of rest, so that the very objectionable increase ofvolume will not occur. If the vacuum is afterward gradually increased,on the contrary, the mass will yield its water withoutmateriallyincreasinginvolume. The most advantageous temperature ofworking is about 30 centigrade.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in averticallongitudinal section, through an apparatus suitable for carryingout my improved process; and Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the tankon line 2 2, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, a. indicates an air-tight cylindrical tankwhich is mounted on suitable supports a and provided with removablecovers Z) Z) and an annular chamber a, concentrically surrounding itswalls. The said chamber has an inlet-pipe d and an outlet d forpermitting free circulation of hot water through said chamber, whichprovides means for maintaining an even temperature of about 30centigrade within said tank. Upon rails ff provided within the tanktrays e c are placed,containing the gluten to be dried, as shown at e,the cover b serving as a door for charging the apparatus. An airinletvalve g is provided on the cover I), and the pipe it leads from saidcover to an airpump 1. The latter is operated by a crank andconnectingrod Z, the crank being rotated by an axle 'm in a suitableframe, such as 'n, and having a pulley o and a fly-wheel p. Power istransmitted to the said axle in any convenient manner and is imparted toa smaller pulley g by means of a belt r, which pulley rotates a crank s,and the latter by a connecting-rod s imparts reciprocating motion to thelever 25 on the valve 9, thereby alternately and rapidly opening andclosing the said air-iulet valve g, while the air-pump operates tocreate a vacuum within the tank. When the gluten assumes a state ofrest, further rotation of the pulley q is prevented by removing the beltor in any other convenient manner, so that the valve g may be closed andthe vacuum gradually increased for the purpose above described.

The dry gluten obtained as described and which may afterward be relievedof any fat contained in it by treatment with suitable solvents is whitein color. It may be kept in good condition for an indefinite length oftime and can be easily pulverized. The great advantage of thispulverized gluten in comparison with tough and moist masses of gluten asregards suitability for-transportation is apparent. The said massescontain about sixtyfresh gluten, which consists in placing the gluten inmoist condition in a vacuum, rapidly and successively increasing anddecreasing the degree of vacu um for a predetermined time, and finallygradually increasing the vacuum for expelling the remaining moisturefrom the gluten, substantially as set forth.

2. The process herein described of drying fresh gluten, which consistsin placing the gluten, in a moist state, within an air-tight tank,subjecting said gluten to a rapidly-alternating increasing anddecreasing vacuum, and finally completing the vacuum, said steps beingcarried on under an approximately even given temperature, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

V GUSTAV AMTHOR. Witnesses:

MAX GROSSMANN, RUDOLPH FRIOKE.

